Progress on Protecting Polar Bears

Some good news for polar bears today. The Interior Department has sent a proposed habitat rule to the White House for review, bringing the threatened polar bear one step closer to having its melting habitat protected.

The chief threat to the polar bear is the loss of its sea ice habitat
due to global warming. However, the polar bear is also stressed by
other human activity, particularly oil and gas development activities
in its habitat.

For this reason, National Wildlife Federation's John Kostyack says the critical habitat rule should include a robust analysis of the areas where the bear could be most threatened because of oil and gas development.

"The first rule from climate scientists is
that the first thing you do is take care of other stressors and try to
find a way to help the species maintain its resilience."